Interview with Former UNC Diamond Heel Pitcher Matt Cox Part II
Welcome to part II of our interview with former Diamond Heel pitcher Matt Cox.
KIH: In 2006 and 2007 you were part of some very deep and talented UNC Diamond Heel rosters that eventual played in the College World Series, (2006 was the first CWS appearance since 1989 for UNC). What was that 2006 season like for you and tell us about your CWS experience?
MC: I knew something special could happen when our first scrimmage came and the stadium was packed. Half of the people their were scouts and I kept thinking “this is a scrimmage?”. I knew we could be good when scouts kept coming out to watch kids practice. Combined with the type of bond Coach Mike Fox was building with the team. The combination of chemistry and talent was perfect and it made us dangerous.
There’s an aspect about college sports that’s sometimes lost with professional baseball is that kids are actually having fun and you can see that written on every kids face especially at the College World Series. The crowds that season broke records at Rosenblatt Stadium. It was cool, it seemed like this one time a year for the CWS everyone from Omaha was their plus players families. They are all there to watch great baseball and really be a part CWS history. I remember walking into the stadium and looking around at how big it was. I didn’t think it was that big on T.V. You’re warming up and can see yourself on the big screen in the outfield. Its kinda sad they don’t play at Rosenblatt anymore.
KIH: During your College Baseball days playing, Who were some players you never wanted to see come to the plate as a pitcher on the mound?
MC: One would be Yonder Alonso from the University of Miami. He had this type of Albert Pujols style of a swing from the left side. I mean, no one can swing exactly like Pujols, but he had a great looking swing. His teammate was a tough out too in Jemile Weeks. It wasn’t a lot of power with Weeks, but he still had a pop in his bat and you couldn’t just lay one out there for him if you got behind in a count as a pitcher against him. Weeks played hard, he had amazing speed too,
KIH: What are some of the best memories you have of being a Tar Heel and being on campus at Chapel Hill?
MC: On campus, one thing that stood out in my mind was the people and the bonds you build with those teammates or other people you may have never met prior to arriving your Freshman year. Coach Mike Fox and Coach Holbrook have the ability to get not only talented guys, but good attitude guys too.
Sometimes the talent doesn’t matter. But the fact that Coach Fox could get 30 different guys from 30 different backgrounds all to mesh in the same locker room is an accomplishment in its own. I still have a strong bond and friendship with more than half of my teammates from ’06. A few weeks ago, I drove up to New York to watch my college roommate(Adam Warren) pitch in the Majors.
Another memory, we had been knocked out early in the ACC tournament in 2006. I think Coach Fox could sense we were let down. I think it was a great move that Coach Fox asked Basketball Coach Roy Williams, who happens to be an avid baseball fan, to talk to the team. Coach Williams instantly had our respect, and you could tell why he is a great coach. He had such a calm, cool demeanor. He talked about his own teams past failures in conference tournament play and told us not to worry.
He said that loss had no bearing on the next game and to take it one game at a time and soon we would be where we wanted to be. I think that ended up putting us back on track. That’s just kinda the whole thing about being part of the Carolina family. It wasn’t just baseball, theirs a whole Athletic Department and program in general, that all feel like a family. When you see guys as big as Roy Williams, a future Hall of Famer, out catching our Wednesday baseball game it just reiterates that everyone is in support of another. That’s the Carolina way.
KIH: Every baseball player has to hang up their cleats one day. You transferred to ECU for one semester your Junior season, but then, no longer playing baseball, you transferred back to Chapel Hill as a Senior. Like several of your UNC teammates, who are not currently playing in the Majors, you graduated, and have started your professional, and still successful career outside of baseball. Tell us what it is your doing these days and why it was important for you to come back and graduate from Chapel Hill?
MC: When I got out of College I didn’t think that what I’m doing now was something I would do right away. I knew that eventually, being a family business, that I may have an opportunity at WT. Cox. The company itself is a subscription agency for all types of information. We are a library information partner. Ebooks, academic journals, and medical journals are examples of just some of the information collected.
We then provide the information needed to major libraries, government agencies, as well as colleges and universities. One thing I didn’t wanna do was come in and act like I knew something. I started at the bottom and wanted to work my way up. That way if there was ever a day when I was given the opportunity to possibly run the business or take over down the road, I would understand everything top to bottom.
The second part to the question. I eventually came back to Chapel Hill, really because of my love for Carolina. I didn’t quite have the season I wanted at ECU and its just such a special place up there. I mean, not to say that other schools aren’t. If you talk to other former athletes or students, its just kinda hard to explain.
Graduating college was always a personal goal of mine and I always wanted to be a Tar Heel. Baseball comes and goes, but I wanted to be a Tar Heel for life. I knew baseball ends at some time but no matter what I knew I wanted to graduate from Chapel Hill. Now I can say I will always be a Tar Heel.
(Any questions about WT. Cox and the company itself please click HERE)